Settlement: New board will oversee privatized Shuman operation

Allegheny County’s Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in 2023, in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource) A power struggle between Allegheny County Council and the executive is poised to end with a pact allowing private management, but with oversight by a new panel. “PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for our free newsletters.” by Venuri Siriwardane, PublicSource September 6, 2024 Allegheny County could soon create a Juvenile Detention Board of Advisors to oversee its youth detention center, according to a consent order that settles a legal dispute around the controversial reopening of that facility earlier this year.& & The board will regularly receive data from new Shuman Juvenile Detention Center operator Adelphoi Western Region about staffing, health care, “reportable incidents” and other crucial indicators of the facility’s safety and operations. The data will equip the board to serve in an “advisory and consultative” role under the terms of the agreement among Adelphoi, County Council and the county executive’s office.& & The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by council last September against then-County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, whose administration signed a $73 million, five-year contract with Adelphoi, part of a group of Latrobe-based private youth detention nonprofits, to...